The world economic and financial crisis and recession have marked materially all of the
global economic, social and political trends and movements. Hence, it comes as no surprise
that the crisis has had a strong impact on Croatia as well, both on an economic and social
level. It has had wide-ranging implications for different segments in economy and business.
In these circumstances, the companies are searching for alternative strategies to gain
competitive advantage and maintain/increase their market share. In the process, they often
reduce prices, which alternatively results in a profit/margin erosion. In turn, this strategy
favors the companies that purchase these products/services enabling them to achieve
significant savings.
Terrestrial transport companies were among the first companies to bear the consequences of
the recession in Croatia, as this is the sector which is directly impacted by oscillations in
production and generally market turbulences. Economic crisis resulted in negative economic
trends, drop in production and retail consumption. All this affected unfavorably transportation
sector. This industry suffered a significant drop in prices and a material margin erosion. The
companies that could not adapt to new market circumstances were even driven out of
business.
This thesis is tackling current problems faced by transportation sector in the period of crisis. It
is pointing to the market of European Union and the creation of transport clusters as a
potential strategy to their business survival.